When Ed and Karen Murphy first built a lighted Christmas display next to their house in Wellsville six years ago, they wanted to dedicate the project as a religious tribute to the birth of Jesus Christ.

“The last few years, there were so many people decorating for Christmas,” Ed said. “They use Santa Clauses, reindeers and flashing lights and all kinds of decorations. I wanted to see if I could do one where you can take some secular characters and ideas and turn them into the real meaning of Christmas.”

The display returned for another year during the holidays. It is located at a lot across the Murphy home, which is 3 Polar Street. It includes a lighted Charlie Brown Christmas tree, a nativity display and a statue of Cousin Eddie – a character from the comedy movie, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” Also, there are signs in front of their home that read “God Bless America” and “We Believe.”

Ed said he was finished with the display on Christmas Eve. The display will stay up until at least early January.

“I had some health issues,” Ed said. “The cold, snow and the wind really got me. I was just slow getting it up this year. The kids were trying to help me, but we didn’t get everything up like I wanted.”

Karen said she and Ed got help from their two daughters, two sons-in-law and grandsons in building the display.

“It takes a while because some of those signs are really heavy and we have to have help,” Karen said. “So sometimes we have to wait until some of the family comes down to help us get them up because I’m not strong enough to help him with some of the things.”

The Murphys, who have lived in their Wellsville home since 1977, build their display during the holidays every year since 2019. Karen said she and Ed have been getting plenty of compliments for their project.

“We don’t get out a lot, but when we go to church, we have gotten several comments from people there,” Karen said. “That’s been really pleasing. What I noticed is a lot of times after it gets dark, we see quite a few cars going around the block. When they go really slow, I know they’re looking at the decorations.”

Kim Clements, a Montgomery City resident, said she is very impressed with the lighted display by the Murphys.

“It’s truly a labor of love for this family,” she said.